Cobras missing key players

Ashwell Prince is a quality cricketer, but can he make up for the loss of seven players?

That's one of the questions the Cape Cobras will have been pondering ahead of their Supersport Series match against the Dolphins in Pietermaritzburg from on Thursday.

Prince is back on board following the Test series against New Zealand, and the Cobras will be grateful for that because the gritty left-hander will no doubt add steel to their batting.

But with South Africa's one-day internationals against the Black Caps on the go, no fewer than seven players have been snatched from the Western Cape franchise's ranks for the national cause.

This, of course, is the price the Cobras were always going to pay for having won the MTN Domestic Championship last season. The irony is that it's in the first-class competition that the Cobras are likely to need their missing players most.

The loss of Charl Langeveldt could be particularly keenly felt. Maritzburg pitches have been among the liveliest in the country for the past few seasons, so his pace and swing might have been a doomsday weapon for the Cobras given those conditions.

Vernon Philander would also have been useful for similar reasons, and few players take on fired-up bowlers as well as JP Duminy. Both are in the national squad.

But the Cobras can hardly mope about what cannot be. The Dolphins have won two of their four matches, are second on the log and welcome back Hashim Amla from his twin centuries against New Zealand. So they will take some beating.

In other matches starting on Thursday, the Diamond Eagles host the Warriors in Bloemfontein and the Titans take on the Lions in Centurion.